A few years ago, the Moscow-based Independent correspondent Shawn Walker arrived in Yakutsk, the administrative center of Siberia’s Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, in the deep winter. I think it was January. So, he wanted to visit Oymyakon, but he was lack of time adn eventually he didn’t make it to that coldest inhabited village.

Shawn returned to Moscow and wrote and an article with many Yakutsk winter images. He called his piece “Journey to the coldest city in the world.” That was like a bomb in the UK

Since that moment, mass media started to use the phrase “the world’s coldest city” for Yakutsk in their own stories. That’s actually true. Oymyakon, for instance, is not the city, it is a small village, though it has -60C as the average temperature in the late December and January.

Meanwhile, we are taling about Yakutsk City and its winter with -50C and -52C. That’s the temp we’ve got this week. Enjoy photographs.

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Yesterday I just stood a little bit near the New Year tree installed recently on Lenin Square in Yakutsk City, Yakutia, Siberia / Russia, and took my chance to take a picture and make a video.

The photo is above. The video is inside the post. Read the rest of this entry…

The settlement of Batagai in pictures.

Batagai is the administrative center of Verkhoyansky region located in North-East Yakutia, Siberia / Russia.

See more photographs taken by Rubis Read the rest of this entry…

Thanks to Ajar Varlamov’s ability to walk his lovely Mariska laika dog in any cold winter weather, now you can see how local people prepare ice cubes on the Lena River tributary for their cattle to drink.

Winter pictures were taken by Ajar today’s early morning. The outdoor temp was -47C.

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These photographs were taken in the morning. This is what we do daily in Yakutsk, Russia. We head to kindergarden and then to work.

Yes, right now in winter it’s always dark in the morning. Today’s sunrise was at 10.40 am.

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This morning we had -42C in Yakutsk, Yakutia, Siberia / Russia. At last, real winter arrived.

See today’s photographs of the extreme cold winter… and stay tuned, as the day is not over yet. More pictures are coming.

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This morning I went out for a regular dog walk. With Ogonyok, 1-yo Yakutian laika (learn more about this dog breed), we headed to the anabranch of the Lena River located just in front of the block I live in.

In summer, it is visited mostly by city people striving for swimming. In winter, it becomes a sort of Mecca for ice fishermen. This day was not exception. On the ice, we spotted a dozen of men sitting with rods and bending over holes.

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Yesterday we had the so-called Pokrova Day, an Orthodox sacred holiday celebrated annually on October 14th. Learn more about celebration history background on wiki.

Do we celebrate the Pokrova Day? Well, Orthodox church goers do, but others not really. But that’s not the point. This day is remarkable for proverbial signs. This day is believed to show what type of the upcoming winter would be.

In my turn, I prefer this day as Snow Cover Day

Further, please, learn signs, watch a video and browse through 20+ snowy photographs. Read the rest of this entry…

Today is October 11th, 2011, and it’s snowing in Yakutsk, the capital of Yakutia, Siberia / Russia. Instensively. It seems this falling snow won’t melt. Winter arrived. If you wondering, when winter comes to the world’s coldest city, here is the answer. It’s today this year.

Before we had several snowfalls. There were a few even in September. It was more like… rain, snow, rain, snow, bright sun, autumn, and suddently we are in winter again… and back to rain and autumn… Crazy! It was tough to determine, what a season we had outdoor. Well, actually, you know… It’s the usual fall to us. Autumn is always like that.

Though I should remind you that such a situation is relevant to my city. Yakutia is actually huge. 3 M sq km. For instance, in northern region winter has being dwelling for more than a month.

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Evgenia Arbugaeva, a Yakutian photographer, keeps stunning us all the time. In September – October, she is exhibiting her pictures from the project “Tiksi In Winter” in Toronto, Canada. Her photo exhibit will be a part of so-called Days of Sakha-Yakutia at Bezpala Brown Gallery.

Days of Sakha-Yakutia at Bezpala Brown Gallery
Sept. 30-Oct. 9; Oct. 15-30, 17 Church St., Toronto; bezpalabrown.com

If you are in Toronto, don’t miss a chance to see her images of the Russian Arctic seaport of Tiksi located in Yakutia in the area of the Lena Delta.

Some of Evgenia’s photographs you might see right now.

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